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Rain hit festival ideal for stick in the muds

Hundreds of people heading for the Isle of Wight festival were left stranded for up to ten hours on gridlocked roads as torrential rain and flooding created a mudbath around the site.

Tractors were called in to pull car-loads of music fans through the quagmire at Seaclose Park in Newport in a painstaking process.

Many people had to sleep in their cars. Hampshire Police redirected those who made it to the Isle of Wight to carparks, at Newport Football Club and Robin Hill Country Park, while encouraging those still on the mainland to abandon their cars and take the ferry as foot passengers. Police escorts guided buses to the site from the ports.